Gloria Petyarre | 1945-2021 - Leaf Medicine Dreaming (23), 2004

Provenance: Purchased for $23,000 in 2004 from Art Equity

Price: $40,000

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Gloria Petyarre (c.1945–2021)

Gloria Petyarre was a renowned Anmatyerre artist from the Utopia region of the Northern Territory, north of Alice Springs. Also known as Gloria Pitjara, she emerged as a leading figure in the contemporary Aboriginal art movement, playing a central role in bringing the art of Utopia to national and international prominence. Over the course of her career, she exhibited widely around the world and became one of the most recognisable and respected Indigenous Australian painters.

Petyarre is best known for her Bush Medicine Leaf series, a body of work that holds deep cultural and ceremonial significance for the Anmatyerre and Alyawarr peoples. These paintings are based on the leaves of a native shrub used in traditional healing practices. When prepared by women elders, the leaves are boiled down to create medicinal washes and ointments. In painting these forms, Petyarre was not only depicting the plant but paying homage to its spirit and encouraging its regeneration, a gesture of both cultural continuity and spiritual reverence.

The Bush Medicine works are marked by their rhythmic brushwork and a dynamic sense of movement, with sweeping gestures that capture the growth cycles of the plant at different times of the year. These works shimmer with energy and vitality, evoking the living essence of the plant and embodying the connection between Country, culture, and healing. Her distinctive style, both meditative and bold, won her a devoted following among collectors and institutions alike.

In 1999, Gloria became the first Aboriginal artist to win the prestigious Wynne Prize, Australia’s oldest art award for landscape painting. She went on to be a finalist multiple times, making her the most successful Aboriginal artist in the history of the prize.

Her paintings have also performed strongly at auction. In 2007, one of her works set a new record, selling for $78,000 and more than doubling her previous benchmark of $34,575.

Gloria Petyarre passed away in 2021. Her legacy endures through the enduring popularity of her work and her vital contributions to the recognition and celebration of Aboriginal art on a global stage.